


A Memory To Never Be Forgotten

by E2Kiquis (orphan_account)



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, Angst and Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hyrule is best boy, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Nightmares, Oh yeah I forgot the important tag, One Shot, Time be father, is this tagging?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:26:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23314609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/E2Kiquis
Summary: Time is the dad of the group, though he doesn’t know it yet.And Hyrule is overall not having a good time right now.
Relationships: Hyrule & Time (Linked Universe)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 162





	A Memory To Never Be Forgotten

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever fan fiction, and also basically my first ever story (besides writing many poems and short drabble stories). So some grammar errors and cringe are possibilities.
> 
> An amazing person has shown me the ways of italics, so I’ll not be using the * anymore!  
> (Thank you so much JustBroccoli!!)
> 
>  **Disclaimer:** I do not, and shall never, own Linked Universe which is created by the amazing Jojo56830. And I definitely don’t own The Legend of Zelda, which is owned by Nintendo.

It was an oddly quiet night. The dark being washed away by a bright canvas of a million stars that blinked through the silhouettes of the overhanging branches above. Oh yes, and the full moon aided that light, seeming to taunt Time with the peaceful atmosphere. 

He pried his glaring eye away from the looming white orb and scanned his surroundings. Time had agreed to take first watch when seeing that everyone was on the verge of collapsing, himself included, from the exhaustion of endlessly fighting moblins left and right in Wild’s Hyrule that day. Now a faint, silvery shimmer was spread over their clearing, resting on the faces of their sleeping forms, and placing a cold and beautiful glow on everything it touched. 

Yet, again, it seemed far too quiet.

Time rubbed his scarred eye while blinking drowsiness from the other. Sure, there was the occasional trill of a cricket and the faint sound of grass lazily stirring in the gentle breeze. But Time felt... _something_ was off.

He moved from his perch propped under a sturdy oak, and took another walk around their small camp. Time glanced at the bulky figure off to the side, the beast’s fur pelt silvered under the full moon. The wolf shifted a bit closer in his sleep to the scarred champion, who was currently using him as a glorified pillow. Time felt a glow of pride form for his protege. Twilight has his work cut out for him with the Wild-Child, but he never seemed to run out of patience for the kid. 

_He’s truly grown to be a a great mentor— maybe even better than I ever was,_ Time thought, silently chuckling to himself, _Cub’s definitely got more on his plate with that kid—_

A small whimper jerked Time out of his thoughts. He gazed out to see where the noise came from, his eye landing on brown curly hair. The young traveler was currently gripping at the grass with white knuckles, eyes tight shut. A nightmare. And a pretty bad one, at the looks of it. 

Time slowly made his way around a sleeping Four, who was mumbling absently about someone to get off his foot(?), and lightly stepped towards the brunette. 

The boy let out another whimper as he curled in on himself. Time let many things slide in his life, knowing to respect the privacy of others. He never asked Four why he would occasionally mumble about something blue to shut up under his breath, or why their snarky pink-haired veteran would get a far-away look whenever the salt breeze from the ocean brushed past the traveling heroes. He knew that, if they wanted to, they would tell him in their own time. But for nightmares? Time would allow himself to intervene just to wake the person up. He was no stranger to how the mind can become a prison with an onslaught of unwanted, warped memories being the tormentor. Hyrule had it written all over his face.

So, Time leaned over and gently shook the shoulder of the boy. The young traveler jerked up and, without a moments notice, had a rusted knife pointed under the chin of a startled Time. 

“Woa— Hey, it’s alright ‘Rule.” Time swallowed, Hyrule’s foggy blue eyes were staring unseeingly at him, a glimmer of fear under the surface. His breaths came out of his small frame short and erratically.  
“Just me, ‘Rule, it’s just me.”

Time, as if trying to calm a wild animal, raised his hand ever cautiously over Hyrule’s, which gripped the metal object like it was his lifeline, and gently lowered it from the boy’s view. Hyrule blinked the daze from his eyes, a flash of recognization, then guilt washed over the boy’s face.

“Time, I—“  
“Hey, it’s okay,” Time soothed, as he sat himself beside the young hero. Broken, haunted blue eyes looked up to his own. Too shattered for his youth. 

Then the boy broke. Held back tears came streaming from his eyes as Time wrapped his arms around him. Lowering his face from Time’s sight, his brown bangs falling in front of his eyes, Hyrule tucked his legs close to his chest and rested his head on his knees while Time rubbed soft, soothing circles on his back. He knew that Twilight or Sky could do a whole lot better on comforting others, but for now Time just had to try his best. 

_Is this what it’s like to have kids?_

For a long while, they did nothing but sit like that. Hyrule curled up against Time’s chest, sniffling softly as he comforted the kid. He thought back on Hyrule’s guarded and wary movements when the traveler first joined. How he would always glance behind him, as if suspecting an ambush at any given moment. When he would flinch back when a kind hand would rest on his shoulder. His wary gaze scanning each of them with distrust. 

Time closed his eyes, feeling the soft night breeze against his face, it’s chill helping him overcome his tired fatigue. 

It’s been over a couple months since then, and he has warmed up to the group a lot more thanks to Wild unearthing his inner eagerness for adventure (and a bit of gremlin that none of the group even thought he had). Legend instantly took to the kid as if he was his own. Time felt a soft smile tug at the corners of his mouth. The resident salty veteran becoming a complete overprotective softy for his successor was an entertaining thought.

Time brought his gaze back onto the boy in his arms, and realized that he had fallen asleep. A slow, tired sigh escaped Time’s lips. All of them—practically children—had been through far too much in their lives. Each one seemed to bear a kind of haunted sorrow in their eyes, some more than others, but it was always there. He reflected on a long time ago when Malon rested her hand on his face and looked into his eyes, her concerned cerulean blue meeting with his azure, and told him the exact same thing. 

_Twi was right,_ Time inwardly sighed, _Malon’s protectiveness is definitely rubbing off on me._

It was a random thought, but Time wondered why Hyrule completely refused to sleep with a bedroll of any sort, always having one hand by his worn boot (which, he realized, is probably where he pulled that knife from). And now thinking about that, the kid never slept without his boots on. _Always ready to bolt at any given moment, probably._ Time figured that it must do with something about Hyrule’s upbringing. Each hero had a tight lid on their past, some more than others, and Hyrule was no exception. The only thing Time truly knew about him was that the traveler successes after Legend in the fallen timeline, and that he supposedly had no companions on his journey, judging by the confused expression he gave when the heroes chatted about theirs. 

Of course Time wanted to know more about Hyrule, but he also respected his privacy. Hyrule did rival himself and Legend with his silence of past things, but Time was not one to pry when he knew that if he highly disliked people prying about his past, others might not as well. Time would not just go and do the same thing he dislikes others doing to him—

With sudden realization, Time remembered he was still on first watch and rapidly scanned his surroundings— to find a wolf staring at him, his deep blue eyes questioning. Wolfie, as Twi’s wolf form was affectionately dubbed by the others, glanced at the boy tucked under Time’s arm. A look of concern was evident on the wolf’s face. Time felt yet another tired sigh grip at his chest and gave a short nod, signing slightly awkwardly around the sleeping Hyrule, _‘he’s okay. Second watch?’_ Twilight gave an affirmative nod that looked a bit odd on a wolf, glancing at the two with a knowing look, and silently made his way towards the edge of the clearing where his silhouette shifted into the pelted hero’s.

Time held the boy in his arms a little closer, brushing away a stray tear from his blissful, sleeping face. And allowed himself to succumb to his own exhaustion, falling into a dreamless sleep.

__________________________________________

Morning came with the soft sigh of a warm breeze. The leaves seemed to whisper amongst themselves as they were stirred, waking Wild from his sleep. He still woke up far more early than the others, except the occasional times Wind, Hyrule, or Twilight would be awake at this time. _It’s out of habit now,_ Wild guessed. The sun was just barely starting to rise in the sky, slowly melting away the stars with a pinkish glow, as if they were cooking on a cast-iron skillet— 

_Speaking of..._

He picked up his Sheikah Slate, which always laid beside him, and lazily scrolled through his breakfast recipes. Wild blinked the leftover sleep from his eyes. He could either make Fried Eggs and Rice, or maybe the Fruit and Honey Bowl because Sky doesn’t eat egg—

Then a ray of light hit his Sheikah Slate, snapping him from his thoughts when he saw most adorable sight in it’s reflection. Turning around, Wild beheld a grand moment. Time had his head resting on a mess of curly brown hair, one arm around Hyrule. While the freckled traveler had his head on Time’s shoulder, his mouth hanging open slightly. Both of them were blissfully propped against an oak, sleeping soundly. Sky, who must be on third watch, glanced Wild’s way, motioning to his Sheikah Slate with a warm smile. A grin tugged at the corners of Wild’s mouth as he pulled up the slate’s Camera Rune and held it out in front of him.

“Check it,” Wild whispered through a smile, and snapped the adorable memory in place.

A memory to never be forgotten.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> I accept all helpful-criticism comments because I definitely need to learn more about writing and the million possibilities I can do with it. You all have an amazing day!
> 
> (Also, did you guys catch the Four Sword Adventures manga reference? There was two, but one was less prominently there.)


End file.
